The present invention is directed to an articulated connector or coupler for railway cars. Prior art articulated couplers are shown in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,399,631--Weber; 3,646,604--Tack, et al; 3,721,482--Tack, et al; 4,258,028--Altherr; 4,336,758--Radwill; 4,531,648--Paton, and 4,593,829--Altherr. The present invention is an improvement over these prior art articulated connectors or couplers.
Articulated couplers are presently used to semipermanently connect two or more railroad car body modules together in order to form a large railroad vehicle, in which there is provided a railroad truck or bogie under each articulated connection for supporting same, and an additional truck or bogie located under each unconnected end of the two end-modules of the large railroad vehicle made up of the plurality of individual car modules. The articulated connector allows for not only relative horizontal pivotal movement between adjoining and coupled ends of two adjacent car modules (angling such as in curves), but also allows for relative vertical/angling and movements therebetween, in order to accommodate track inclines and declines, as well as general differences in vertical heights of the adjoining ends of the adjacent modules due to track conditions or tolerances and wear of parts within the articulated connector itself.
Prior art articulated connectors provide a certain amount of longitudinal free slack between their connector parts due to tolerances and wear of their component parts, which generally causes uncontrolled longitudinal train action with high forces harsh metal-to-metal contact, and accelerated wear, which reduces the operating life cycle of the articulated connector. Such wear caused mainly by free slack is also undesirable in that it permits interference between cooperating elements of the male and female parts constituting the articulated connector, which, under certain conditions, leads to the binding or locking of parts, galling, and the associated damage and breakdown of the connector. Attempts to eliminate this free slack have concentrated on the use of a wedge or shim between the end-spherical surface of the male part of the connector and the opposing end-surface of the cavity of the female part receiving the male part. However, such an approach has still not prevented locking or binding although the wear of parts might be only moderate and certainly not excessive.